Rim structure for flat tableware



R G. cowAN 2,657,558

Nov. 3, 1953 INVENTOR.

Patented Nov. 3, 1953 RIM STRUCTURE FOR FLAT TABLEWARE R. Guy Cowan,Fayetteville, N. Y., assignor to Onondaga Pottery Company, Syracuse, N.Y., a. corporation of New York Application November 30, 1949, Serial No.130,189

1 Claim. 1

chipped around the edge, especially in hotel and restaurant use.

Various improvements have been heretofore made to minimize edge chippingof the ware. For example, the edge has been formed with a round bead onthe underside of the rim at the edge thereof, a flattened reinforcementon the under side of the rim at the edge thereof, or a rib on the underside of the rim about halfway between the edge of the rim and the foot.Neither of the aforesaid edge reinforcements is applicable to ware witha scalloped or irregular perimeter since the jigger tool remainsstationary during the tooling while the ware is rotated on a mold andtherefore the reinforcement is concentric with the central axis of thepiece. Another method has been used consisting in making the warethicker and thereby heavier, which destroys its salability for allexcept the crudest uses, and increases the expense of manufacturematerially.

This invention has as an object a construction for ware of the typereferred to wherein the peripheral edge portion of the ware at theextreme edge is of the conventional thickness of high grade ware forcommercial users. It is applicable to ware with scalloped or festoonededge, as well as plain, round edge. Ware with this construction hasincreased resistance to chipping compared with ware not involving thisconstruction and of comparable edge thickness. This invention alsoprovides a surface on the under side of the rim which acts as a fingergrip when handling the ware that minimizes the danger of the wareslipping out of grasp with the usual and customary finger location usedfor normal grasping of the ware.

The invention consists in the novel features and in the combinations andconstructions hereinafter set forth and claimed.

In describing this invention, reference is had to the accompanyingdrawings in which like characters designate corresponding parts in allthe views.

Figure 1 is a plan view of the under side of a section of a plate formedin accordance with my invention.

Figure 2 is an enlarged sectional view taken on line 2-2, Figure 1.

The plate is formed with a central section H! commonly referred to as afood well. This central section is encircled by a rim portion H, theperip era edge I2 of which is subst same thickness as the major portionc i f lfia r i i The rim is formed with a reinforcing rib I 3 ar rangedinwardly from the peripheral edge and extending concentrically with theaxis of the ware. The rib l3 merges with the periphery glfiethiiebpateor, in other words, the surface 01' onve rim portion. rges with the topsurface 01' the With this arrangement, the eri the rim is substantiallythe s me tfi i gl c s s i the major portion of the rim, whereby the warehas the same appearance and feel as if no thickening of the rim existed.However the thickened 1301171011 eifected by the rib I3 is positioned toreinforce the resistance to the impact of any blow on the edge of theware. That is the force of any impact applied to the edge of the ware istransmitted immediately to the thickened portion which is of suflicientstrength to increase the resistance to cracking or chipping Heretofore,it was the general theory that the edge of the ware had to be thethickest part of the rim portion in order to eifectively resist impactswhich would ordinarily cause chipping oi the ware. I have found howeverthat with the rib l3 spaced inwardly from but merging Wlth and forming apart of the peripheral edge portion, impacts which would ordinarilycause chipp ng of the ware are eifectively resisted and the life of theware materially prolonged and zlegaglgg weicghithof the ware is notmarkedly inan e impaired salability of the ware is not In the drawings,the plate is '1 having a scalloped edge. In ware c t lii s i 'lygz theusual bead or welt is not applicable due to their being concentric withthe axis of the ware whereas the extreme edge of the ware is at varymgdistances from the axis of the ware.

It should be obvious that the same advangagiers obglailnied yivith myconstruction exist with r e g festooned edge WSires-ware as withscalloped or While in the construction described, the edge of the plateis of conventional thickness, the bead or rib I3 is of substantialheight relative to the adjoining under surface of the rim of the plateand thus forms, or provides a finger grip on the under side of the rimspaced inwardly a sufiicient distance from the edge of the plate to beengaged by the finger in the natural handling of the plate. Accordingly,this rib serves the dual function of substantially resisting chipping ofthe Ware and rendering it more easy and safe to handle.

What I claim is:

A plate or similar article of tableware formed 5 of frangible materialcomprising a substantially fiat central portion encircled by a rimportion extending from said central portion at an angle of 20 or less tothe horizontal, said rim portion having an annular portion of graduallyand uniformly increasing thickness from the peripheral edge thereof to ashoulder on the underside of said rim spaced from said peripheral edgeand an annular portion of uniform thickness from said shoulder to saidcentral portion, the thickness of said last-named annular portion beingsubstantially equal to the thickness of the peripheral edge of said rim.

R. GUY COWAN.

References Cited in the tile 01 this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS NumberD. 8,465 D. 25,515 D. 101,983 63,138 1,022,882 1,882,198 1,901,8372,142,811 2,178,274 2,235,502 2,240,842 2,469,777

Name Date Lyon July 6, 1875 Haviland May 19, 1896 Duncan, 3d, et a1.Nov. 1'7, 1936 Chapman Mar. 26, 1867 Schwenn 1- Apr. 9, 1912 Slick Oct.11, 1932 Bateholts Mar. 14, 1933 Agonis Jan. 3, 1939 Ratner Oct. 31,1939 Lepp'ke Mar. 18, 1941 Gehring et a1 May 6, 1941 Mohun May 10, 1949

